OAKLAND, Calif. — When Khris Davis of the Oakland Athletics fisted a two-out, two-strike, bases-loaded blooper into shallow center field in the bottom of the 10th inning, Yankees second baseman Starlin Castro turned and gave chase, knowing full well the implications.
If he caught the ball, the Yankees would score a rousing victory — one in which they came from behind four times to tie the score and another to take the lead.
If Castro could not catch it, he knew the Yankees — on a day when they continued to lose players left and right to injury — would lose the game.